By BRIAN CUNNIFF

Staff Writer

The Wildwood Catholic High School boys basketball team lost its first game of the New Year. But the Crusaders still haven’t lost since.

Catholic extended its winning streak to 13 games with Tuesday’s surprisingly tough 48-41 road victory at Cedar Creek.

Wildwood Catholic improved to 16-5 overall, 10-1 in Cape-Atlantic National Conference games with the win. The Crusaders can clinch the National Conference title and could earn at least a first-round bye as one of the top two seeds for the inaugural six-team CAL playoff tournament with a win on Thursday against Sacred Heart.

Wildwood Catholic found itself trailing by six points entering the fourth quarter against Cedar Creek on Tuesday. But the Crusaders outscored the host Pirates 18-5 in the final quarter to rally for the win. James Baumgardner, Catholic’s 6-9 center, tallied 11 of his game-high 17 points in the final period to fuel his team’s late surge. T. John Casiello added nine points for the Crusaders.

Wildwood Catholic held a two-point lead after one period but was outscored 22-14 over the middle two quarters before coming back in the fourth.

Wildwood Catholic had won at home over Cedar Creek, a first-year varsity program, by a whopping 71-29 earlier this season.

Thursday’s game against the Lions, also Wildwood Catholic’s Senior Night, is scheduled for a 7 p.m. tip. Wildwood Catholic beat Sacred Heart, 63-56, in Vineland earlier this season. The game serves as Sacred Heart’s last CAL game, unless the school manages to reverse a decision by the Camden Diocese marking it for closure at the conclusion of the current scholastic year.

The CAL Tournament begins with opening-round games for seeds three through six on Friday, Feb. 17. The winners from those games will take on the top two seeds in semifinal games Tuesday, Feb. 21 at Hammonton High School. The CAL title game is slated for Saturday, Feb. 25 at Richard Stockton College.